shadow warriors
by Eassarin
Summary: have you ever felt that there is more to the world than you can see? this is the story of an orgenization that is just that. dante, son of hades, is the young leader of the shadow warriors, a secret army of mortals(mostly)that serve the gods of olympus. never seen, but always felt, this orgenization comes to light, and things get bumpy for the world. AU starts after lightning thief
1. preface

Preface

To live, to fight, to kill, and to die in the service of the gods. It is a simple oath. An oath that the shadow warriors live and die by. The shadow warriors have been around as long as there have been demigods. They are behind the pages of history. Always guiding the tide of war but are never recognized on the battlefield or elsewhere. They are an assassin warriors order that is made up of mortal men and women who bind themselves to the gods service. They are shrouded in the mist, a magical force that alters reality for the benefit of mortals. These warriors have never been seen or praised as heros by the gods or man yet they have always fought for a better world. They fought at Marathon, they fought at the battle of Ashincourt, they fought in the american revolution, they fought in the fields of europe in world war 1 and world war 2. They fought in vietnam, and korea. Wherever there is a battle, they are there. But that is not important now. That is not my story. That was long before my time. My story is not of the past. My story is of the titan war in America. The year was 2008, and this is the story of the first demigod shadow warrior in the history of the world. This boys name is Dante, son of hades. This boy was 6 years old when he was inducted into the order and, when the titan war came he was 12 years old and leader of the order. This story begins at the greek training camp, camp halfblood, on Long Island, New York, and this... this is my story. I am Dante, son of the Lord of the Dead.

authors notes: ok, guys, this is a story i started years ago before Riordans heros of olympus series. several characters in the story to follow are Rick Riordan's brain children, but a few of the concepts in this story are my own creation. feel free to take any ideas in this story and make something out of them. several chapters will come quick, so check in often. please review and subscribe for more. i appreciate any and all constructive criticism.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: a dangerous secret.

"Alright, people, Percy and his band are departing the camp. They are going to go aboard the titan ship. We need to see them safely out of the ship alive. They must succeed in their quest for the fleece of gold. Our reconnoissance teams report that the romans are preparing for a counterstrike on the titan force that is marching on them in San Francisco. The titans force must not reach the roman camp. Roman branch, you are in charge of stoping that force before it reaches the romans. Use any means necessary." I said.

"yes, general." the roman general and his forces gated away.

"Spartan branch, you are to set up defenses in the labyrinth near the entrance of the greek, roman, and titan camps. The titan's army must not be able to get into or utilize the labyrinth as a means of transportation."

"yes sir, your will shall be done." The Spartan branch gated off.

"Shadow Vanguard, you are to come with me to the titan warship to guide the greeks escape."

"general, why are you worrying about the labyrinth? Do you think the titan lord will try an assault through the labyrinth?"

"yes. I don't _think_ he will. I _know_ he will. The Spartan branch is to lay traps and walls and anything else that might slow their advance."

"you think it will stop them?"

"Stop? Oh, No, not at all, but it may delay them and will certainly buy us time."

"how long do you think it will give us?"

"at most? Six years. At the very least it will buy us a year or two."

"do you think he will actually try to strike down Olympus again?"

"he will try. I have no doubts about that, but we must see to it that he fails. He must fail. For now, we must keep them as far away from Olympus as possible."

Just then a messenger gated in. "the greeks have been captured by the titan lords servant, Luke."

"right, vanguard, lets move quickly." I said calmly. I walked toward the black wall of the cave command canter and shadow gated out.

One thing I should mention is what Shadow Gating is. Gating as a form of teleportation that is reliable and desecrate. It is similar to shadow travel, but is more like you walk through a waterfall and you are in the location you need to be. Only the waterfall is the shadows on a wall or tree or.. Well, just about anything. Not even a monster can sense it happen.

We arrived on the lower deck of the demon cruise ship and took a moment to plan out our precision attack. I was not involved because the vanguard always does its own thing for its own reasons. I drew my shadow steel sword and put on my shadow helm and armor. I always carry it around and it serves me well. Shadow steel is a metal that is mined in a place that is so far under ground that no mortal can find it. It is an impenetrable metal that can destroy a monster with a single strike. I was examining our surroundings when the door to the room swung open and a hell hound and a demigod entered. The demigod saw us and went to sound the alarm. He never got the chance, I cut him down before he could even draw his sword. The hell hound leapt at me but the vanguard shot it down with shadow bows. It exploded into a shadowy pool on the ground and disappeared. We didn't stick around long after that. The monsters would realize that the demigod didn't return from whatever he was doing and they would look for him. They would find the body and they would raise the alarm. We had a window of maybe half an hour to extract percy jackson, Annabeth chase, and tyson the cyclops, and we had to do it undetected. That was the way of the order. We strike hard from the shadows and return into the shadows undetected.

We ran from the room and ascended to the main deck of the ship and what we saw was strange. There where people who where in a trance, mortals, and all around them where all manner of monsters. Hell hounds, Dracaena, demigods who defected to the titan lords army. It was a lovely day. There was not a cloud in the sky, the sun was warm and there was a gentle breeze.

we didn't have time to admire the weather. We had maybe 25 minutes until we had to be gone. I scanned the crowd, trying to see if the demigods where there. I looked for a moment, and then I saw them. A bear man was driving them toward the stairs to the lower level. I motioned to the vanguard to go and run amuck, and the leader of the vanguard, Amoz Nightsoul, took off his pack and pulled out a god level explosive out. I shook my head with a smile. He was always a flashy person who liked epic distractions, which was the exact opposite of the principles the order was founded on. He pulled out a few flash bang grenades and I nodded. He pulled out one for each of his men. Twenty in all. I got up and walked along the wall in the shadows. A few moments later, I heard the pins pulled. I turned toward the wall, covered my ears, and closed my eyes. The grenades went off and I immediately turned around and saw tyson smash the bear man and the entire area was throne into confusion. The questing party ran toward a life boat and went over board with it. Our mission was over. I looked at the men and motioned to them to return to the shadow command cave. Then I turned and gated back to base.

...

We had won. That was an easy mission. The task was simple, but the reward was great. Percy jackson, son of Poseidon, was a valuable player in the war with the titans. He was the only known demigod of the three brothers, Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus. The children of these gods are powerful and are a great tool. Especially with the great prophecy and all.

Now, this is the great prophecy, as given by the spirit of the oracle of delphi: "_put the great prophecy here_"

We appeared back in the cave under the underworld and I immediately got to work planning our next strike. There was a small band of six demigods in Cincinnati , Ohio that needed to be extracted, the Behemoth was running amuck in Virginia, and medusa had reformed in chicago. I read the reports from our scouts and I didn't like the results. The titan lord was gaining support. I decided to solve the smaller problems first. I told the vanguard to divide and take out the Behemoth and medusa.

"Amoz, may I have a word with you in privet?" I asked.

"yes, sir" he replied and we walked off into a smaller side room.

"I am going to go undercover to the greek camp. I am going to save a small band of demigods in Ohio. You are going to be in charge here until I return. I may be a wile."

"yes sir. I will lead the order in your absence. Anything else?"

"no. I will return."

Then I turned and gated off to the demigods.

...

I appeared in the midst of a fierce fight between the Demigods and a band of 12 Cyclopes'. The demigods where fighting well but they would never win. They didn't have celestial bronze weapons. You need a magical metal to slay a monster. I drew my sword and summoned my shield and charged into the fight. I cut down four Cyclopes' with my first strike and disintegrated a fifth with a blow from my shield. The Cyclopes' backed away when they saw what I had done. The demigods saw me in my full shadow plate armor and the cloak of darkness. They knew I was dangerous but also that I fought for them. I charged at the monsters and within moments, they where all nothing more than dust on the floor. I turned to the demigods. They looked at me with aw and wonder. I sheathed my sword and removed my helm. It was the first time in 100,000 years that a shadow warrior had been seen.

"who are you?" one of the demigods demanded.

"I am the one who can save your life, boy. I am to escort you to the only safe place on earth for people like us." I said calmly.

"if its a safe place, then why aren't you there right now? There is no safe place for people like us. There never has been one." the boy said.

"for now, you must trust me. All of you must trust me. These monsters where only lesser monsters. You need to get to the greek camp soon or I will draw the attention of beasts much worse than the one that attacked you here." I said forcefully.

"what do you mean?" a girl in the back asked.

"I am Dante, son of hades. I draw some of the worst monsters to me. We have to move now. A hoard of dracaena inbound, due north. We have to travel in a way that is hard to do. All of you have to grab my cloak." I ordered.

"why?" the boy demanded.

Just then, the dracaena burst through the north wall of the warehouse.

"Damn it! Get behind me!" I barked as I put on my helm. I drew my sword and raised my shield. In all, there where 15 dracaena. The odds didn't look good, but a shadow warrior never runs once a challenge has been made. Of course, the odds never look good for me anyway, so I was good. I took a deep breath, then I charged. I ducked and twirled and slashed and turned and stabbed and hacked, and slamed, but, as always, the fight lasted but a few moments. I sheathed my sword and ran back to the demigods and tackled them all and gated through the wall.

...

We appeared in camp halfblood. The camp is a place protected by the gods. No monster can enter unless they are invited into the camp. We where safe. I dropped to my knees. I had never tried that with other passengers before. I was exhausted. We tumbled down the hill. A camper saw us. She ran up and looked shocked. Then a centaur galloped over to us.

The centaur, who I assumed to be lord Chiron, looked at me in my midnight black armor. His face was hard to read. I knew he didn't trust me much. I was a little too out of the ordinary. I stood.

"so you are the great Chiron that trained annabeth chase and percy jackson, correct?" I asked, still out of breath.

"I am..." he said suspiciously.

"what has happened to the tree?"

Chiron looked at me. "who are you?" he demanded

"I am the..." I caught myself. "I am dante, son of hades"

"the...?" he inquired.

"nothing. I cannot stay here. I have to leave."

"to where, might I ask?"

"behind closed doors, Chiron." I said cripticly.

Chiron dropped the subject. "it is time for you to meet the camp director."

I turned to leave. Then I felt a strong hand grip my shoulder that I felt through my armor. "you are to come as well, mighty son of hades," he said, mockingly, "come along"

I decided not to resist. I knew I was locked here for a wile.

...

We got a tour of a camp (it was sad that I knew more about the camp than the head of activities.) we saw the cabins. There where elevon of them in all, one for each of the twelve gods of the pantheon except my father, Lord Hades. We saw the archery range, the forge, the climbing wall that spewed lava and slammed together if you don't get to the top fast enough. we saw the canoeing pond, and the dining pavilion, the woods(there are some extremely dangerous monsters stalked in there to test the campers). As we where walking away from the wood I saw a stream of fire streak up from deep in the woods. We continued on. I made a mental note of that. we saw the arena, and ended at the big house. Then we where sent to the hermes cabin (yes, chiron didn't believe I was the son of hades). That was the boring part. Then I decided to have a little fun with the ares cabin. I stowed my sword, shield, and helm in my pack and shielded it so nobody could open it or run off with it.

First, I went to the arena to train. I didn't kill anyone, but broke a campers arm. Then I went to the climbing wall and challenged the wall to show me no mercy. Lava spewed and boulders where hurled at me and the wall attempted to crush me, but, even with all that, I reached the top of the 500 foot wall in two minutes thirty. I went to the archery range and made a perfect bullseye... And split that arrow... 6 times. After I got bored of that, I walked to the cabin. My pack was sitting right where I left it but a son of hermes was trying to break into the bag, with no success.

I walked up behind him silently then yelled, "boo!"

The son of hermes nearly jumped out of his own skin. He wield around to see who it was. Then, his face turned deathly pale.

"this is not what it looks like, I swear." he tried to explain.

"don't worry, I wont kill you... Yet. You can't get into it anyway." I said absentmindedly as I opened the pack with ease.

"whats you name?" the boy asked.

"Dante, son of Hades." I said. I was arming up to go on patrol.

"I'm hector. What are you suiting up for?"

"Patrolling" I said idly as I put on my helm.

"Can I come?" the boy asked.

"you have a sword?" I asked.

"ya. And I'm not bad with a bow."

"ok. You can come if you promise not to get yourself killed."

I shouldered my quiver and my bow, I fixed my hunting daggers on my thighs, I fixed my short sword to my back, and my long sword and my great sword on my sword belt.

"get your weapons and meet me at the top of the hill." I said as I walked out the door.

I walked up to the top of halfblood hill. I stood by the great pine that guards the camp. Her needles where withering and I could tell she was dying. I examined the tree and noticed a gash near the base. I knelt down and was examining it. It appeared to be a poison that I had never seen before. I opened the pouch and rummaged through it. I found a vial that was meant to cure any poison. I dripped a few drops onto the gash. I sat there watching the wound, expecting it to heal up.

"boo!" someone yelled behind me.

I drew one of my hunting daggers and wielded around and nearly slashed out hector's throat. He stumbled back. I Lunged forward to strike again before I realized who it was. I stopped myself. I had grazed his neck and it was bleeding some. I lowered my blade after a moment and sheathed it.

"sorry." I said. I turned back to the tree and pulled out the vial again. I dropped a little more onto the gash. Nothing was happening. Hector walked up and knelt down next to me.

"what are you doing?" he was still recovering from his near death experience.

"I'm trying to heal the tree. This stuff should be able to cure any poison. It can even reverse medusa's curse. I don't understand why this isn't working."

"not even nature magic could revive the tree. I don't think that will work." hector said sadly.

I was not willing to give up that easily, but I had no other ideas. "lets go. I'll figure something out."

"clarisse, one of the other campers, is on a quest to find the..." he started.

"the golden fleece. I know."

"already been told then, huh?"

"no, I helped them on their way before I came here."

"what?"

"don't worry about it," then I sensed something approaching, "monsters approaching."

"how do you know?" hector said, a little concerned.

"wheres the boarder patrol?" I asked

"there isn't one."

"then we are going to have a little fun," I said with a smile, "if you want to live, don't get in my way."

Just then, a small hoard of 10 monsters burst out of the wood on the other side of the street. They where few but they where powerful. I drew my short sword and charged them alone. Hector was terrified. He stood there like he didn't know what to do. I advanced and the monsters came to meet me. I slashed and hacked at them and in moments, the monsters where a pool of dust in the grass.

I turned and saw that hector had collapsed. I ran up the hill to his side. He had a pulse but it was faint. I examined his body for injuries. He appeared unhurt. I picked him up and ran to the cabin of Lord Zeus. I entered the cabin and looked around. The cabin had a statue of Lord Zeus. It was made of marble and on either side of the statue there where golden brazers with eternal flames burning. The rest of the cabin was empty.

I laid hector down. I stripped him of his armor and shirt. Then I saw it. There was a small sting on his gut. The sting itself was seeping out a greenish puss and the surrounding tissue was turning a sickly black-green color. He had been stung by something and it was killing him and doing it fast. I opened my med kit. I rummaged through it and pulled out a vial of powerful antidote, and a vial of liquid power. The liquid power was risky to give to him because it was so powerful that it might destroy hector. I uncapped the vial of antidote and dropped three drops on his gut. He jolted it pain. I held him down. After a few moments, he stopped struggling as much.

Then I heard the door creek open. I turned and saw a daughter of Aphrodite walk it. It was the same girl that had ran to my side when I first got there. She walked over cautiously. I turned my attention back to hector. He had a look of pain on his face. I rummaged around the med kit a little more. I pulled out a vial of painkiller that makes morphine look like a weak child's plaything. I dripped a little drop onto his wound. After a moment, the pain melted off his face. The girl sat down next to me. I gave her little notice. A grabbed the vial of liquid power and dripped a single drop into his mouth. Then checked his pulse and for a fever. His pulse increased to a normal level but his fever spiked as well, which was normal with that particular drug. I rummaged around the med bag a little more and came out with a fever suppressant. I sat him up and put one of the pills in his mouth. He weakly started chewing on it then swallowed. I felt his forehead and could feel the fever lower.

"what happened to him?" the girl asked.

"he was stung by something stronger than these camp medics could heal." I said absentmindedly.

"what stung him?" she asked.

"I do not know."

"well, why did you bring him here?"

"This is my uncles shrine. It is the closest place to home that I'm going to have here. I knew my uncle would shield us wile I healed him." I explained.

"Your uncle?" she asked.

"Pluto is my father. He claimed when I was 4." I said. Then I started to pack up my medical supplies.

"Pluto? Don't you mean Hades?" she asked.

"Of course." I said quickly, cursing myself silently.

"How long have you been traveling before you came here?"

"Well, I'm elevon now. I left home when I was five. That was when the first attack came. My mother was killed in the attack and my home burnt down. I went to the camp but they didn't want me then. Ever since then, I was adopted by... A group of renegade... Demigods that have taken care of me." I explained.

"where are they from?"

"I'm sorry. I cant tell you about that. My presence here has broken a law that has never been broken in ten thousand years."

"I see." She said clearly confused.

"Ya." I said wile I examined the rest of hectors body for other stings and possible infections.

"Whats your name?" the girl asked.

"Dante" I said.

"Mine's Fae"

I stowed my med bag in my pack and stood up. I put hectors cloths and armor back on and I picked him up, bowed to the statue of my uncle, and walked to the door. The girl followed. I glanced up to the dinning pavilion and swore. We where late for dinner. I ran to the pavilion with hector still slung over my shoulder. When I got there, the hermes cabin looked at me in alarm. I walked over the hermes table and sat hector down gently on the bench. He leaned forward onto the table. Then I walked up to the head table where the staff sat.

I bowed on one knee before them and said reverently, "I apologize for my lateness. I was tending to a wounded camper. May I eat, or shall I retire to the cabin for the night?"

A man sat in chirons place at the table. He looked at me with slight disgust. "since you are new to the camp, you may, but the next time, you **will** be sent back to your cabin for the night. You may rise and be seated." he said, mocking my formality.

I rose and went to the hermes table. There was an elaborate feast prepared for us. I piled my plate high with the best food at the table. Then I rose and took the plate to the fire pit in the center of the pavilion.

I scrapped almost all of it into the fire and said, "my lord and father, mighty Lord Hades, I offer this food to you. Please accept the offering of your humble son and servant," then I scraped the rest off into the fire and added, "and to the other lords and ladies of Olympus, I ask that you smile upon this camp, and allow it to stand for many years to come."

The ground shook slightly when I said this. There was a flash a black light above my head. The entire camp gasped. I glanced up and saw the symbol of Hades, a black seal with a gruesome skull that looked similar to my helm. A spiked crown on the top of the skull, with its teeth extending down an unnaturally long way. At least three inches. The only difference between my helm and the skull on the crest was that the crest was a grey skull, my helm was jet black. I had seen this symbol so many times that I had grown accustom to it. I walked calmly back to my place at the table. Before I got there, the entire camp rose and bowed.

Dyonysis, the camp director, said in a loud voice, "Hail, Son of Hades."

The camp looked at me as if they expected me to be surprised by this.

"sit down already. You act like this is news to me. Eat." I said, slightly irritated.

I sat down, removed my helm, and ate in silence.

...

There was no cabin in honor of my father, (children of hades are tolerated here, but never welcomed) so I was still in the hermes cabin. I awoke the next day and put on my armor. It could not have been later than four in the morning. I suited up for battle, packing all my things away in my pack, and walked out of the cabin in silence. I was walking through the green when I heard a twig snap off to my right. I turned sharply and saw the girl from Aphrodite cabin standing there by her cabin. I turned and continued on. I walked toward the woods in silence. I wanted to get away from the camp. I wanted to run and never come back, but I knew that I couldn't abandon the camp. Not now. I had almost reached the wood when I felt someones hand grasp my arm. I drew my dagger and turned abruptly. Fae was standing there in skinny jeans, a pink shirt, a black leather jacket, and a celestial bronze hunting dagger strapped to her thigh. She looked like she had known that I was planning to go hunting. I relaxed and sheathed my dagger.

"What are you doing here, fae?" I hissed, "You know you'll get in trouble if your caught!"

"I don't care. I want to know more about you. I had a dream. Mother told me to get dressed and ready for a fight and wait at the door of the cabin. I think she wanted us to walk together." she said with a slight, charming smile.

"It's dangerous. Monsters are strongest at night. You know that." I said, trying to get her to go back to bed.

"so?" she said softly.

She stepped a little closer to me. She was less than a foot away. I didn't know what to do. I felt like this was right but I was taught my whole life that feelings where dangerous. I pulled away. She pushed past me toward the wood. I walked fast to catch up to her. '_if she is going to go into the wood with me, I have to keep her safe._' I thought. I grabbed my bow and notched an arrow.

We walked along the path a little ways in silence. I heard all kinds of sounds in the wood. Growling, hissing, baying, screeching, banging... All kinds of noises like that, but I was after a particular prize. A dragon. I knew there was at least one in the wood and I was bent on finding and killing it. We where walking along the trail, deeper and deeper into the wood. It was getting brighter. We walked for an hour before I saw anything. A fat rabbit ran across the path and I shot. Fae gasped when the arrow struck the critters eye. I walked over to the rabbit and picked it up by the arrow.

"you hungry?" I asked.

"sure. Can you cook?" she said, slightly grossed out.

"I have been in the woods most of my life," I said, "of course I can cook."

I pulled out a small knife and skinned the rabbit and prepared it. I started a fire and began cooking the meat. After a few minutes, the meal was done. Rabbit with a sweet red curry seasoning.

"so," fae said as she grabbed a slab of meat, "you said you broke an ancient law by coming here. What law was that?"

"fae," I said, "there are some secrets that are so dangerous that men give there lives to protect them. I am one of those secret keepers. I have nearly reviled them just by being seen."

"what do you mean?"

"fae, can you keep a secret that, if revieled to our enemies, could mean the end of olympus?"

"Sure I can. What is this deep dark secret that you are talking about?"

Before I could tell her, I heard a snort from behind me. I turned sharply. Something was there, but it was a ways off, and it was big. Dragon big.

"what is it your hunting?" fae asked, slightly worried by the sound.

"A dragon." I said, "At least, thats what I was hoping to get."

I notched an arrow ant fired a shot in the direction of the sound. I heard a yelp of pain. I notched another arrow and started toward the beast. I walked through some underbrush, and there, about 500 meters from our camp, was a baby green dragon. The arrow I had fired had went through the base of both its wings. I drew my hunting dagger and cut its head off with a single stroke. The monster disintegrated the normal way. It turned to a golden, sandy, saw dust like powder. The head remained as a trophy of battle. I put it in my pack.

"Is that what you wanted?" fae asked, slightly scared.

"Not really. I was hoping for a bit of a challenge, but it is time to go back. I'll just come back..." I was cut short by a conch horn blast coming from camp. I turned toward camp and started running to camp as fast as I could, sword in hand. Fae chased after me.

I ran like a mad man. The horn continued to sound. It sounded like a battle horn. When I reached camp, I saw that the campers where walking into the dining hall. I dropped to my knees in the grass at the edge of the wood. I stayed that way for a moment then I rose. I was exhausted. I sheathed my sword and walked into the dining hall. I immediately noticed that hector was looking like he had fully recovered. I made a mental note to give him a followup examination to see how things where healing up.

Silena, Aphrodite cabin leader, stormed up to fae, "where have you been!" she demanded, "we where looking all over for you!"

"She was with me," I said, stopping her from screaming at fae any more, "I was hunting in the wood and she followed me. Its my fault. I let her come along."

Silena glared at me. "who asked you, death boy?" she demanded.

"I am explaining why we where late, not excusing it. If you don't believe me," I pulled out the dragons head, "this may be a sufficient explanation. Its not a big one, it went down easily."

The camp sat in silence. I tossed the head at Silena. She dropped it and it rolled back to me. Then I had a monster sense. That happens with me every now and then. I feel a tug in my gut every time a monster is after me. I can tell where it is and about how far away it is. I drew my sword and sprinted toward the hill. Fae and hector ran after me for reasons I cannot fathom. I reached the top of the hill and saw my age-old foe. I had slain this beast many times. The last time it died was three days ago. It had reformed quickly... Too quickly. This beast was the hydra.

Thats another thing I should explain. The ancient monsters never truly die. They return to Tatarus for a wile and then reform again. Normally they stay dead for a few weeks, months, years, or centuries if you are lucky. I was not lucky.

Anyway, the hydra, for those of you who don't know, is a giant dinosaur thing with seven heads. Every time you sever a head, two more grow back in its place. It has snakelike necks. Its scales are strong and green like emeralds. Its eyes are ruby red and it spits a super concentrated hydrochloric acid, one of the most corrosive naturally occurring acids. The beast was chewing on a dozen trees. This incarnation of the hydra had twelve heads. It had won a few fights already. It was a veteran again. That was the way I like it. Some of the campers had followed me and the arrived and some screamed. The hydras attention shot toward us. Our time was up.

"Greeks, get back into camp!" I yelled as I put on my helm.

I raised my shield, and advanced quickly. Hector and fae inched forward behind me. The hydra recognized me immediately. Another thing that should never happen. It spat acid at me from all twelve of its heads. I dove to the right and came up, my shield raised. I saw, out of the corner of my eye that fae and hector had gotten a bit of acid spatter on themselves. I leapt onto the beasts back and drove my blade into its spine. It keeled over, screeching in pain. I drew my bow and notched twelve arrows and fired. Each arrow met their mark with an eerie, almost unnatural accuracy. I drew out my sword and arrows as the beast melted into a pool of shadows until there was nothing left.

I ran over to fae and hector. Hector had a small amount of acid spatter on his breastplate. Fae was less lucky. She got spatter on her right side. The acid had melted her armor. The acid was still eating away at her.

"can you stand?" I asked, my inner medic kicking in.

"I think." she said painfully. She tried to drag herself up but she couldn't. The pain seemed to be too much for her.

I put my hand on her palm."may I?"

"Please" she grimaced.

I heaved her to her feet, slung her right arm over my shoulder and helped her up the hill. Hector followed behind us.

"how the hell did you kill that thing so quickly?" hector asked in awe.

"first, that _thing_ would be a hydra. Second, I have killed the hydra dozens of times." I said.

"You? By the gods, how are you still alive?" he asked.

"When you are this awesome, it is hard to die." I mocked.

"How did you not come here sooner?" he asked

"Like I said, I'm just that awesome." I said sarcastically.

We walked down the hill and to the big house in silence. I took fae into the infirmary and helped her into a bath to dilute the acid. I could tell from the look on her face that the pain started to go away immediately. I turned to leave but fae grabbed my arm.

"Please stay." She said, like she was about to cry.

"I have to do something. I'm sorry. Ill come back as soon as I'm done, but I have to do this." I said. I left before she could argue.

I walked toward the woods. The camp was looking like it was dying. The grass was a little more yellow than it was the day before. I walked past the dining pavilion, the cabins, the volleyball courts, basketball courts, the camp store, the forge, and into the wood. I walked through the woods and stopped by the creek. I pulled a drachma, the money of the gods, out of my pack and tossed it into the creek.

"Lady Iris, mighty goddess of the sacred rainbow, accept my offering of gold and show me friend and brother in arms, show me Amoz Nightsoul." I said in not more than a whisper.

The water shimmered and the image of Amoz, one of my most trusted generals, appeared in the water. He was in a meeting in the command center of the shadow cave. They where talking about how the battles on the roman fronts where going. From the sounds of things, the roman lines where holding, but only just. The romans where taking losses but not as many as we had expected. I sat quietly listening to the reports on various hunting expeditions. Medusa fell easily, the Dragon Of Faldor was slain in Mexico City without the general publics noticing, the Nemian lion fell in china, the Minotaur was slain in Athens, the Hydra in Nebraska was slain with ease this morning...

"Wait, the hydra was in Nebraska today?" I asked, trying to make sure I had heard correctly. The entire war council nearly leapt through the roof. They turned and saw the iris message shimmering in the room with them.

"What the hell?" amoz demanded.

"Sorry. The hydra attacked the Greek camp not ten minutes ago." I explained.

"What? We killed it not four hours ago. Thats not even fair!" Victor, the roman general, demanded.

"It had twelve heads. It couldn't have been here any less than a month. Whats going on?" I asked. Then something dawned on me, "The hydra. How did it die? Was there a battle trophy?"

"no, not that I recall." amoz said, "I killed it myself. I did it by the book. It cant have been there. Did you kill it yourself?"

"yes. I paralyzed it then shot all of its heads at the same time. By the book." I said.

"was there a trophy left for you?" amoz asked.

"no, and the hydra was larger than the last time I saw it. It should never grow from one incantation to another, but it looked like it had been here for months." I said, thinking aloud.

"Alright. When will you be returning to us, sir?" amoz asked eagerly.

"I have revealed myself to them. You know the law. A war hearing is in order, but we must wait till tonight. The gods shall hear my case and pass judgment. You all are to sit in as well, but for now I must get back before the realize I'm gone. Ill gate in at ten tonight. That gives you three hours to plan." I said.

"sir, how could you do such a thing? You told them of us? How dare you?" amoz demanded. I figured that if I was really there, he would have tried to kill me on the spot.

"no. They only know my name." I explained, "for now, I must go. You can bitch and moan about this tonight."

I drew my hunting dagger and sliced through the water and the image disappeared. I rose and turned to leave. Hector was standing there leaning up against a tree. He had heard everything. I leapt forward, grabbed him by the neck, and flung him to the ground. I put the dagger to his neck.

"how much did you hear?" I hissed.

"a lot but I don't know what all of that was about." He said, clearly terrified.

"swear upon the gods, the River Styx, and on the fathers before you that what you heard and saw this day will never be spoken of to anyone. Do you understand?" I said coldly.

He looked at me like de didn't understand any of what was going on. My training told me that I should but there was a little voice that I hadn't heard in years saying that I should spare him.

"I swear" He said, clearly afraid.

I sheathed my hunting dagger and got up. "It would do you good to forget this ever happened."

i turned and walked away

Authors Note: ok, here is the real chapter one. send me some reviews to let me know weather or not to post more of the story. i have four more chapters this long done already just waiting to be uploaded. let me know what you think. see you in chapter two!


	3. Chapter 3

p style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 18.0px 'Times New Roman';"span style="text-decoration: underline; letter-spacing:  
0.0px;"Chapter two: the war hearing on the five-hundredth floor./span/p 


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